MELISSA Courtney-Bryant bowed out disappointingly at the heat stage of the World Championships 1,500m, reports Nigel Harding.

The Poole AC star had done very well to qualify for Oregon after missing most of last year through injury. She had to wait for the final heat to make her debut on the world stage.

Heat one was slow, with Laura Muir progressing as runner-up in 4:07.53. Adelle Tracey, the former Arts University Bournemouth student now running for Jamaica, clocked 4:05.14 for sixth - the last automatic qualifying place - in the much faster heat two. With some likely fastest loser qualifiers close behind her, the pressure was on Courtney-Bryant for a top six finish in heat three.

The 2018 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist started brightly. She had good position until half-way, but faded to 11th of 14 finishers in a time of 4:09.07.

A mystified Courtney-Bryant said: "I don’t have a reason for it. I honestly feel absolutely devastated to have not made the semi-final. My coach and I felt I was ready to do that, but sometimes races just don’t go to plan.

"My training in the holding camp and past month has gone extremely well and I know that won’t go to waste. Lucky for me it’s not the end of the season, I can turn my attention to the Commonwealth Games in two weeks’ time!"